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You are here: Home / Archives for Washington State

Washington State

Stronger Than That

October 17, 2012 by admin

Fall in the Hoh Rainforest

Up in the wilds, where the state of Washington meets the roaring waters of the Pacific, Nature demonstrates her greatest power. Trees, uprooted and tossed like toothpicks, land like daggers impaled in the sand. After a dry summer, a record-setting rain pelts the area, littering branches on the road. We dodge them and the standing water. Near Neah Bay, a rock slide causes us to slow the car.

Here at the end of the world, the farthest northwestern point on the Lower 48, it’s hard to imagine that for centuries the Makah Indians carved out a living here, quite literally, as they hollowed-out cedar trees to make boats for whale hunts. They traversed heady waters in these canoes, bringing food (tasting like cow, one Makah gentleman told me) to the tribe. The Makah were not relocated here by the white man; they lived here all along. Descended from Canada’s natives, the Makah reservation shrank over time with treaties left unfulfilled, but still exists. In Neah Bay, the Makah have a museum which proudly displays artifacts rare in that they were not captured by Europeans, but uncovered during an archeological dig. They are preserving their past and their language.

We are here to hike. We spend Friday on Rialto Beach not far from Forks (yes, Twilight fans, THAT Forks), where we will base for the weekend. We crawl over logs and rocks, colorful as though they, like the leaves, have turned vivid for autumn. The wind is at our backs, blowing rain onto the backside of our clothing, soaking us through. It’s the first rainy weekend of the season, and it feels appropriate. We walk the beach at low tide, our feet sinking into sand. Others pass us on the path, and we are all grinning, enlivened by the rough weather.

A view of the “Hole in the Wall” at Rialto Beach, Washington State

Saturday, we enter the Hoh Rainforest. Our hike there is hushed and reverent among fir, cedar, and western hemlock rising more than 200 feet into the sky. Moss drapes itself around tree limbs, and maples stand out against the evergreens with leaves of yellow and orange. Though nature is less dramatic here than at the Pacific, we pass a cedar that has fallen and blocked the path. Workers saw parts of it into manageable pieces so we can get by, but we are sobered at the thought that at any time, a tree could fall. The trunk will be left to rest here, where it will shelter new seedlings for new trees.

At the bottom of the collonade of trees, still visible is the tree that, once upon a time, they grew upon as seedlings.

Sunday, we head to Neah Bay and the trail to Cape Flattery. We watch as water smashes against rock, polishing it and carving new patterns and holes. Yet sea lions and birds play on and in the water as though it was a peaceful pool.

We all live in life’s waters that sometimes batter us and take us to places we don’t want to go. We get up and do it all again, day after day, and before we know it, fifteen years have passed. Fifteen years since the day that nature’s forces battered me, too, separating me from my daughter, taking her from my arms before I’d even had a chance to get to know her. Fifteen years later, my heart still breaks, and yet I am frolicking, too. In the presence of nature raw and moody, I am alive. I am still here. I am seeing the great beauty of this world.

We humans have a capacity for resilience. No matter how mighty and intimidating and anguish-provoking nature can be, we who survive are stronger than that. I write about the death of a child today not for pity or even comfort, but to stand in strength. She gave me that. Nature gave me that.

On October 14th every year, I feel the sadness, yes, and all the grief all over again. Yet the Makah survive and flourish despite the white man’s intervention in their lives. Nature knocks down an ancient tree, but new trees form, perhaps in a beautiful collonade. And the course of my own life changed for the better because I had a daughter to love and to be with me, even though our time together wasn’t nearly long enough for me. We can withstand winds and rain and pain, more than we know. We are stronger than that.

Cape Flattery, the most northwest point of Washington State.

 

Filed Under: grief, Life Changes, travel Tagged With: bereavement, Cape Flattery, death of a child, Forks, grief, hiking, Hoh Rainforest, Makah Tribe, Neah Bay, Olympic Peninsula, resilience, travel, Washington State

Blog Recommendation: Presence of Magic

November 10, 2011 by admin

Good morning! Greetings from Washington State, where we are spending the next several days figuring out where we would like to live. We arrived on the Olympic Peninsula later than we expected, in large part because I left my computer on the plane! Ugh. We were about 20 minutes away from the SEA-TAC airport when I realized what had happened. Hubby was kind enough not to yell, and an honest soul turned the computer in, so no harm no foul — just some brief frayed nerves.

My NaNoWriMo novel is on said computer. I wouldn’t have lost it, because I store my writing on Sugar Sync, so I can access it on multiple computers. Still, I wouldn’t have gotten much writing or blogging done on the trip!

Keeping up with other blogs is a challenge during NaNoWriMo. I’m over 31,000 words, and I’ve done it largely by avoiding other people’s blogs. Since I enjoy reading what my fellow bloggers are up to, it’s a sacrifice I don’t always enjoy. I still have to sneak around from time to time and read a few, just to feel like I’m staying connected. Maybe it’s because I’m here in Washington State, getting ready to house hunt, but I am feeling the presence of magic in my life, so it makes sense that I would find a blog of that name. I found Brynne Betz via the magic of Twitter, and I am thrilled! These are sweet blog entries that will make you smile. Check it out!

In the meantime, we’re eager to check out Port Townsend. We arrived late and saw nothing, so I have no idea what the town looks like. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say next week! Tomorrow I’ll add the next installment of The Foreign Language of Friends.

Filed Under: blogs, NaNoWriMo, travel Tagged With: Brynne Betz, good blogs, NaNoWriMo, Olympic Peninsula, presence of magic, Twitter, Washington State

Running Away, Running Toward

October 26, 2011 by admin

Tulips
From the annual tulip festival in Washington State

We’ve lost our minds. After carefully planning a trip to Washington State for December, where we are considering moving, we decided we couldn’t wait and booked another trip that starts in two weeks. In the midst of getting a bunch of projects done, cleaning out the house to put it up for sale, and NaNoWriMo, where I will draft a novel in November, we are also scouting our next hometown. Hubby was downright giddy when we set up the trip yesterday afternoon, and we both had difficulty getting to sleep — we’re like little kids at Christmas. This decision to move feels so right in our bones that we want to do it as soon as possible.

30 years ago, when I decided to move to Houston as a young newlywed with in-laws here, I found a wonderful home. In those days long ago, when I was a much younger woman with nothing but adventure on my mind, my friends asked me if I was running away from my life in Illinois. Those were indeed bumpy times, when I was trying to find my way and making a series of bad decisions. Still, I felt as though I wasn’t running away from my life, but running toward it, and this has proven to be true.

This is a lovely city. I live in a great neighborhood near Rice University, we have numerous restaurants in walking distance, and my neighborhood is filled with live oaks that canopy over the streets. Here I found careers, first in the mortgage business and later in the natural gas industry. I have owned homes, divorced and remarried, and made numerous personal discoveries with good friends. I became a stepmom here and felt the mix of pride and pain as they grew up and left home. I live in a cozy, happy home where I learned at 51 that I have a passion for vegetable gardening.

Mt. Rainier
Mt. Rainier, where we hike and Henry bikes.

Yes, it’s hot, and yes, we’ve had a horrible drought…not to mention those nasty mosquitoes I wrote about the other day. Thing is, though, that’s always been a fitting description of Houston. Those things didn’t used to bother us, and the fact that they do now just tells us that it’s time for us to go. We have fallen in love with Washington’s combination of water and mountains, along with its fresh air and mild climate. We want to live in an area where we can enjoy hiking and biking without having to make long drives out of the city to even begin.

These days, Henry’s kids now live elsewhere. Still, they are affected by our decision. It feels to them that we are abandoning Houston and all the memories that we hold of this place. Their grandparents are gone now, and the home they grew up in was lost in a flood some years ago. There is nothing tangible for them to return to, but at the same time, it’s hard to accept that the “old folks” are going to live someplace else.

In a conversation with my stepson, we reflected about home and grief and moving on. I want him to run toward his many dreams, and to do that, I believe we have to set the example by living ours as much as we can. I also think that though both kids are on their own, they still need that final push from the nest so they can fly. From time to time as they try their new wings, they may look back behind them to make sure we are still there, smiling and watching and waving as they edge further and further from home. We will still be there — it will just be in a different place.

Waters at San Juan Island
Clear waters of San Juan Island

Filed Under: Life Changes, travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: dreams, leaving home, moving, relocating, San Juan Island, Seattle, Washington State

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